HIPAA Blog

[ Wednesday, September 05, 2007 ]

Court Protects Records of Medical Marijuana Users in Oregon: A federal grand jury in Washington state is investigating marijuana growers in Washington and Oregon, and has subpoenaed the medical records of some Oregon residents who use medical marijuana under Oregon's law allowing it. The patients and the State of Oregon objected to the subpoenas, and the US District Court in Washington agreed.

There's more to this story; in the Supreme Court's decision in the Raich case, federal restrictions on sale and use of marijuana overrode California's state law allowing personal growing and consumption of marijuana pursuant to a doctor's prescription. It would seem that the Raich decision would come into play here, since the federal restriction on marijuana would seem to override the state law allowing it for medical purposes. If the federal grand jury presses the issue (I've sat on a grand jury before -- not federal, though -- and if they want to push it, they will, but this might be something they don't think they really need to decide on probable cause), I think this District Court might be overruled.